Mesa officer fatally shoots man who raised BB gun, police say

A police officer in Mesa, Arizona, fatally shot a man who raised a BB gun at officers, the Mesa Police Department sai...

Posted: Jun 19, 2018 8:24 AM

Updated: Jun 19, 2018 8:24 AM

Posted By: CNN Wire

A police officer in Mesa, Arizona, fatally shot a man who raised a BB gun at officers, the Mesa Police Department said Monday.

The news comes as the Mesa Police Department faces scrutiny over allegations of excessive force in three arrests. The department is also reviewing video from a January arrest

In response to a 911 hang-up call, officers went to a Mesa residence Saturday around 5 p.m. and found a man and a woman inside, the statement said.

"The male was agitated and refused to talk to the officers," the statement said. Officers escorted the woman out of the home but the man refused officers' directions and went back inside, police said.

He re-emerged from the residence holding what the officers said looked like a handgun. An unrelated witness told police they heard officers forcefully tell the man to drop the gun, Mesa Police said.

The man raised the gun at the officers, and one officer discharged their service weapon, police said.

Mesa Police identified the man as Michael D. Fletcher, 53.

"It appears Fletcher died from a single gunshot wound that is suspected to come from the officer's duty weapon," the police statement said.

CNN has reached out to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office for additional information on Fletcher's death. A spokesperson said an autopsy has not been performed and a report has not been finalized.

The incident was captured on body camera, the statement said. CNN has also reached out to the Mesa mayor's office for comment.

Officer-involved shootings are investigated and forwarded to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for disposition, Mesa Police Detective Nikolas Rasheta said. The officers involved in this incident have been placed on paid administrative leave per standard procedure until they are cleared to return to duty, Rasheta said.

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